Street Foods

The pojangmacha (street vendor) is one of the best places to grab a quick snack or pass the night away drinking with friends. The types of food they serve can usually be eaten quickly while standing up (although someplaces have cheap chairs or benches) or take with you. They have many types of food on sticks or "finger foods." Other specialize in seafood and are geared more towards people who want to sit and have some drinks as well. Smaller stands can be easily carried or rolled from place. Larger, more elaborate ones have plastic tarps to protect patrons from the rain and cold.



Tteokbokki (떡볶이)
Tteokbokki is a popular Korean snack food which is commonly purchased from street vendors. Tteok jjim an early variant of modern tteokbokki, was once a part ofKorean royal court cuisine. Originally it was called tteok jjim, and was a broiled dish of sliced rice cake, meat, eggs, and seasoning. This type of tteokbokki was made by broiling tteok, meat, vegetables, eggs, and seasonings in water, and then serving it topped with ginko nuts and walnuts. While the older version was a savory dish, this latter type was much more spicy, and quickly became more popular than the older traditional dish. In addition to traditional ingredients, this tteokbokki used gochujang(hot paste made from chilli peppers), along with fish cakes. Other ingredients added to tteokbokki include boiled eggs, pan-fried mandu(Korean Dumplings), ramyeon(Noodle).

Mandu (만두)
Circles of wheat dough are pulled around a stuffing mixture of tofu, minced beef, pork, mixed vegetables, or other ingredients. Alternatively, they may be sealed around the filling from the side, forming a crescent shape. Sheredded kimchi, bean sprouts, and small sliced baby squash can be added, depending on the taste. They can be cooked several ways: steamed, simmered in beef stock, or fried. They are served with kimchi on the side and a small container of soy sauce. Use chopsticks to eat, dipping in the soy sauce for taste. (Some places also have crushed red papper to mix with the soy sauce, for an extra spiciness.) Traditionally, the mandu paste was made at home. Nowadays, however, the paste is readily available in supermarkets and convenience stores.


Eomuk (어묵)
Eomuk is common Korean food that you can find in street vendor. Some people believe it is same as Japanese processed seafood product called, Kamaboko. However, Kamaboko are made by steaming until cooked, but Eomuk is usually boiled on a skewer in broth. The broth is sometimes given to the customer in paper cups for dipping and drinking. Usually vendors serve Eomuk by poking a long stick through it.


Bungeoppang(붕어빵)
Bungeoppang is popular korean food consist of sweer azuki known as pat (팥, red bean paste), which is encased in batter and then toasted in a special appliance that performs like a waffle iron. This appliance is specially molded to create the fish shape of Asian carp. It is then toasted golden-brown and served.

Hotteok(호떡)
Hotteok is a variety of filled Korean pancake, and is a popular street food of Korea. The dough for ho-tteok is made from wheat flour, water, milk, sugar, and yeast. The dough is allowed to rise for several hours. Handful-sized balls of this stiff dough are filled with a sweet mixture, which may contain brown sugar, honey, chopped peanuts, and cinnamon. The filled dough is then placed on a greased griddle, and pressed flat into a large circle with a special tool with a stainless steel circle and wooden handle as it cooks.

Meats and Poultry

Traditionally, meat and poultry were very expensive and eaten only during special occasions. When they were eaten, nothing went to waste. Westerns may be surprised at how everything gets used when cows, pigs, or chickens are used for food. Almost every bit of the animal eventually gets broiled, fried, boiled, stewed, or otherwise used in some sort of recipe.

Bulgogi(불고기)
Pulgogi is one of Korea's most famous grilled dishes. It is made from sirloin or another prime cut of beef (such as top round), cut into thin strips. For an outside barbecue, the meat is marinated for at least four hours to enhance the flavor and to tenderize it in a mixture of sesame oil, soy sauce, black pepper, garlic, sugar, onions, ginger, and wine. The marinated beef is cooked on a metal dish over the burner. Whole cloves of garlic, sliced onions, and chopped green peppers are often grilled at the same time.
To eat, select a pice of cooked beef, and wrap it in lettuce with rice, kimchi, shredded vegetables, or a number of other garnishes on the table. You can also add doenjang (bean paste) for flavor. Dwaeji pulgogi is a pork version of this dish.

Galbi(갈비)
Galbi is one of Korea's most famous grilled dishes. Beef short ribs are marinated overnight in a mixture of green onions, garlic, sugar, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Rice wine and oriental pear slices can be added for extra flavor. The marinade tenderizes the meat which is grilled over charcoal or gas right at the table. A variation, dwaeji kalbi-gui (broiled pork spareribs), uses pork seasoned with sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, sesame seeds, and boiled ginger juice before grilling.


Samgye-tang(삼계탕)
The body cavity of a small chicken is stuffed with glutinous rice, young ginseng shoots, and jujubes. The chicken is then boiled in a clear stock and served in an individual earthenware pot. It is highly recommended for those new to Korean food.
This dish is famous as summer dish. Koreans try to survive the summer heat with hot stamina food. This wonderful dish is gradually being recognized by the rest of the world. Even if you are skeptical about the properties attributed to ginseng, you will enjoy this dish which is said to give stamina during the steamy Korean summers.
How to eat: Taste the soup first. If it tastes too plain, you can add salt. When you eat chicken meat, use salt and pepper on the table for seasoning.

Korean Rice Dishes

Instead of asking "Have you had a meal?" Koreans usually ask "Have you eaten rice today?" Rice is the staple food for most Koreans and it appears at almost every meal. It can be cooked alone (the most common case), with other grains (such as millet or barley), or with chestnuts and beans. Vegetables may also be mixed with the rice before serving. Rice gruel (often made for sick people or the elderly who have health problems) is also classed as a main dish.

Bibimbap (비빔밥)
A simple but popular dish, bibimbap is a bowl of hot rice served in a bowl topped with a variety of vegetables (cooked and raw) arranged on top. Vegetables can be seasonal, with toraji, bell flower roots, gosari, bracken, bean sprouts, and spinach often served. Other ingredients can include chestnuts, jujubes, ginseng, and a small amount of seafood or meat. An egg may be also served on the top. Most restaurants prepare the dish with a big scoop of gochujang and red pepper paste placed with the vegetables. (Ask for it to be placed on the side if you do not like the taste much.) This dish comes in two ways: a large bowl with rice on the bottom and the other ingredients placed on top, or just the ingredients in the bowl and a separate bowl of rice. Mix all the ingredients together then use your spoon to eat. A bowl of light soup is also served.
Gimbap (김밥)
Gimbap (usually spelled Kimbap) is Korea's most popular and nutritious convenience meal. You can find it sold everywhere: picnics, schoolchildren's lunch boxes, street venders, and convenience stores. A layer of cooked rice is spread over a square piece of gim (dried laver). Various ingredients (including ham, sausage, spinach, cucumber, crab meat, carrots, and radishes) are thinly sliced and placed on top. The laver is rolled into a tube, sliced into sliced pieces, and seasoned with sesame seeds. The idea was borrowed from the Japanese during the colonial period, but Korean Gimbap is slightly different.
How to eat: Each roll is sliced into bite-sized pieces. Eat one at a time with chopsticks. If you eat at a street vender, sometimes you have to use a tooth pick instead of chopsticks.


Dolsot Bibimbap(돌솥비빔밥)
Similar ti Bibimbap, Dolsot Bibimbap's ingerdients include rice and various vegetables (sometimes with meat). While regular Bibimbap is usually served in a cool bowl, Dolsot Bibimbap comes in a hot crock. Also, it usually includes more ingredients.
To eat, mix the ingredients together then eat with a spoon. After eating, poor some hot water into the crock to soften the rice that sticks to the side. Scrape off this rice (called nudungji) and eat it as well.

Jjigae

Jjigae(찌개) is a Korean dish similar to a Western stew. A typical jjigae is heavily seasoned with chili peppers and served boiling hot. A Korean meal almost always includes either a jjigae or a guk (soup). Jjigae are divided into various types, depending on either their principal ingredient.

Kimchi Jjigae(김치찌개) Along with doenjang jjigae, this is one of the most common home dishes for common people. Baechu kimchi(cabbage kimchi) makes the best ingredient for this stew. Ripened sour kimchi is sliced and sauteed in salad oil. Then the sauteed kimchi, bean curd, other available vegetables, and noodles are mixed with pork, beef, or sea food (such as oysters) and cooked as a stew. The amount of water and hot pepper paste determine the level of taste and spiciness. How to eat: Eaten with a bowl of rice. Most Koreans mix rice with spoonfuls of stew.
Doenjang jjigae(된장찌개)
If Koreans were asked to nominate a national dish, they would probably name doenjang jjigae. It is eaten very frequently throughout the country. The key to the flavor lies in the quality of the bean paste. Bean paste is made early each Lunar year by soaking meju (bean paste blocks shaped like bricks) in brine for forty days and then draining off the soy sauce this produces. The residue is mashed into a yellow paste. Other ingredients of doenjang jjigae can be tofu, clam meat, pork or beef, but some recipes are meatless. Seasonal vegetables such as zucchini, spinach, green peppers, and onions can also be added. Seasonings include garlic, anchovies, red pepper powder, and salt. A more exotic recipe, known as kungjung doenjang jjigae (royal soybean paste soup) calls for beef, mushrooms, tofu, and gingko nuts.

Budae jjigae is a thick Korean soup similar to a Western stew. Soon after the Korean War, meat was scarce in Korea. Some people made use of surplus foods from U.S. Army bases such as hot dogs and canned ham (such as Spam) and incorporated it into a traditional spicy soup flavored with red chili paste. Budae jjigae is still popular in Korea and the dish often incorporates more modern ingredients such as instant ramen noodles and even sliced American cheese. Other ingredients may include ground beef, beans, green onions, tofu, kimchi, garlic, and mushroom.

Kimchi

Kimchi(김치), is a traditional Korean fermented dish made of vegetables with varied seasonings. Kimchi is the most common side dish eaten at every Korean meal with rice.
History of Kimchi
The history of kimchi can be traced back to ancient times. References to kimchi can be found as early as 2600–3000 years ago. The first text-written evidence of its existence can be found in the first Chinese poetry book, Sikyeong. The earliest form of kimchi was made of only cabbage, and it was in the 12th century when people began to include other spices to create different flavors, such as sweet and sour flavors, and colors of kimchi, such as white and orange. Chili peppers, now a major ingredient in most forms of kimchi, were unknown in Korea until the early 17th century. Chili peppers originated from the New World and were introduced to East Asia by Western traders. This particular style of kimchi made with chili peppers and baechu, a variety of Korean cabbage, gained popularity in the 19th century and this baechu kimchi continues to be the most common and popular form of kimchi today.

Kimchi Variety
Korea boasts more than two hundred types of kimchi, all rich in vitamins, minerals, and proteins created by the lactic acid fermentation of cabbage, radish, and other vegetables and seafood. Kimchi can be categorized by main ingredients, regions or seasons. Korea's northern and southern sections have a considerable temperature difference. Northern regions tend to have longer winters compared to the southern regions of Korea. Kimchi from the northern parts of Korea tend to have less salt as well as less red chilli and usually do not have brined seafood for seasoning. Northern kimchi often has a watery consistency.

Baechu kimchi (배추김치)
This is the most common, classic kimchi you will find at a Korean meal. Whole heads of cabbage are trimmed to remove discolored outer leaves and then split longways into two or four sections. These sections are soaked in brine for three or four hours until they have softened (during the summer and winter for about 12 hours.)

Chonggak Kimchi(총각김치)
This is another kimchi made from small ponytail radishes that lovers of fiery food will enjoy. Garlic, ginger, and pickled baby shrimp mixed with red pepper powder are added to the radishes. Chonggak Kimchi can be ready after being left for only a few days.

Dong Chimi(동치미)
The major ingredients of this kimchi are fist-sized Korean pony tail radishes (soaked in brine) and green chili peppers (soaked for about two weeks until they have a very slightly brownish appearance), which are added to water. Mustard leaves and green onions are often soaked with the radishes to soften them. Each of the soaked ingredients is folded into separate small bundles. The final dish is assembled in a storage jar with layers of radishes alternating with layers of greens and layers of chili peppers with thinly sliced garlic and ginger. The final kimchi is covered with brine and stored.